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Show SPORTS DSU gwirtRif. soccer ranks No. 5 in RMAC preseason polls Football 91 Away Colorado State Pueblo Volleyball 91 Home Arkansas Fort Smith Women's Soccer 91 Away Cal State San Marcos Men's Soccer 91 Home Ottawa University Ricardo Villa, a sophomore scrimmage at the Trail engineering major from Somerton, Arizona, starts his offensive attack against Western Wyoming CC during blazer Stadium. After the men's team was ranked fifth in the 2018 RMAC Preseason Poll. BY KATRINA KELLER KatDixieSun The DSU mens and womens soccer teams ranked No. 5 out of 12 in the RMAC soccer Preseason Poll. Jonny Broadhead, the mens soccer head coach, said the preseason polls are based on the previous years game stats and performance. Broadhead said coaches send in their nomination of players to RMAC. Next the RMAC sends the poll to all the teams in the conference to vote and then the votes are tallied, and the awards are given out, Broadhead said. Its an educated guess, and thats the fun part about any sport, Broadhead said. It doesnt mean much. You have to show up and play every day. The coaches saw how the men played and already in their mind know where the team fits in the RMAC, Broadhead said. Gerry Lucey, head coach of the womens team, said the team was not in shape but they are praticing to be at their best potential for their games this season. Lucey said they are improving over the weeks before their games. They do not have any team goals but those will come as time moves forward, Lucey said. Forward Moses Medina, a junior communication major from Mesquite, Nevada, made the RMAC preseason team this year. Medina said its motivating to have received this spot. Because of his team rank, he said it gives other teams this fear of how well the other teams will be beaten. Its a different season. We are going to go in there excited. We have a stronger team this year, Medina said. I think it will be a very successful season. Both coaches said their teams are ready and to bring on the competition. a Broadhead said his players are confident about winning their games and he is also confident in their ability to win. The first game of the season for the mens team n is at Basin on Thursday. The womens teams first game of e the season is a Southern California trip, which starts at California State San Bernardino on Thursday. For more information, visit the Dixie Athletics page. Texas-Permia- three-gam- Football 98 Home Fort Lewis Volleyball 98 Away Black Hills State Women's Soccer 98 Home Snow College Men's Soccer 98 Away Texas A&M International Troubling details from Ohio State University present a problem college football must fix Are we just going to keep pleading ignorance? The troubling chronology of Zach Smith began in 2009, when Meyer was coaching at Florida and Smith served as an intern on that staff. According to the Ohio State report, Smith and his then-wif- e, Courtney, argued after a party at Meyers house. Smith V I 1 4 Ohio State Buckeyes head coach Urban Meyer gets a kiss after his team's Champsionship win over the Wisconsin Badgers at Lucas Oil Stadium Dec. 27-2- 1 BY DAVID WHARTON TNS Less than a week after Ohio State issued an investigative report on football coach Urban Meyer, it remains difficult to see past the lurid details. The university found that for too long, Meyer and tire schools athletic director failed to take action against an as sistant coach with a history of domestic abuse accusations and highly questionable behavior. The report suggests otherwise, finding a series of mistakes and poor judgment but no deliberate cover-uThe university issued relatively mild suspensions, with Meyer sitting out the first three games of the season and Smith allowed to return to his job in p. 3 in Big Ten Indianapolis Even if you accept this conclusion, there is something profoundly troubling about what happened in Columbus, something that underscores college footballs ongoing struggle with domestic violence and sexual abuse. Its a huge failure, said Brenda Tracy, a rape survivor turned activist who tours the country talking to athletes. allegedly threw Courtney who was pregnant at the tune against a wall. Gainesville, Fla., police arrested him but she reportedly decided not to pursue charges and none was filed. Meyer claims he spoke to the couple about counseling. Courtney denied meeting with the .coach. Two years later when Meyer jumped to Ohio State, he brought Smith aboard as a receivers coach but did not inform his superiors of the 2009 arrest because there was no formal charge and because he believed Courtney was not being entirely truthful about that night, the report stated. Other issues soon arose. Smith was arrested in 2013 for driving while impaired and failed to inform anyone at Ohio State. The following year, he and another Buckeyes assistant ran up a $600 bill while entertaining one or more high school coaches at a strip club. In the latter instance, Meyer chastised Smith and established a stafifmorality clause, advising his assistants to avoid strip clubs or venues that would embarrass The Ohio State University. He also prohibited pornography on school-issue- d computers and phones. It was October 2015 when the university learned that po lice in the nearby city of Powell, Ohio, were investigating Smith for yet another domestic violence allegation and cyber offenses against Courtney. Meyer and Gene Smith confronted him, warning that if charges were filed, he would be dismissed. They claim to have continued monitoring the situation but took no further action. In the ensuing months, Zach Smiths behavior appeared to deteriorate as he and Courtney divorced. Ohio State investigators say he was often late for practice and engaged in a sexual relationship with a secretary on the football staff. He allegedly took explicit photographs of himself inside team facilities and during a visit to the White House, when the Buckeyes were invited to celebrate their 2014 national championship. Some of his colleagues not including Meyer or Gene Smith became aware that he had sex toys delivered to him at work. Smith might still be on the Buckeyes staff had an Ohio judge not issued a restraining order on Courtneys behalf, prompting the first of numerous media reports on July 23. Meyer finally dismissed Smith that evening. If anything, Ohio State officials fed suspicions of a cover-u- p in the way they announced the suspensions last week. After a marathon deliberation by the board of trustees, the university called a news conference late in the evening, with little advance notice, giving reporters no time to study the 23 page report and ask informed questions. Meyer did not help matteis. The coach deflected some of -- the criticism by saying his judgment had been clouded because Zach Smith is the grandson of his longtime mentor, the late Earle Bruce. More importantly, he seemed brusque and hardly remorseful, especially when asked if he had any message for Courtney Smith. Friday brought yet another public mea culpa. My words and demeanor on Wednesday did not show how seriously I take relationship violence, Meyer wrote on social media, adding: I sincerely apologize to Courtney Smith and her children for what they have gone through. All of this suggests a shortcoming in the way college football has dealt with domestic violence and sexual abuse. As a sports ethicist, Shawn Klein wonders if the Ohio State incident will spark a change nationwide. Id like to think administrators and leaders at these institutions will take from this a couple of lessons, the Arizona State professor said. One is to be more vigilant in cases like this. The second thing is to make their procedures, their policies, more clear. But iron-cla- d reporting obligations might be only half the solution. Big-tim- e football teams generate millions in revenue and their coaches are often the most popular and highest-pai-d public employees in the state. Ridpath insists the rules must be accompanied by corresponding, unambiguous penalties. And by a willingness to enforce. Youre talking about the hubris of college coaches, he said. They need to be held accountable. (c)2018 Los Angeles Times. |